Manufacture of soap from sperm oil



1949 ca. SCHMIDT ETAL MANUFACTURE OF SOAP FROM SPERM OIL Filed Dec. 22, 1945 INVENTOR. 'erman Szhmldt BY Car/0s Edwards flTTOR/WF'YS Patented Dec. 27, 1949 MANUFACTURE or SOAP FROM SPERM OIL German Schmidt and Carlos Edwards, Valparaiso,

Chile, assignors to. Compania Industrial, Valparaiso, Chile, a corporation of Chile Application December 22, 1945, Serial No. 636,964

3 Claims.

Our present invention relates to a continuous process for manufacturing soap from sperm oil and aims to provide certain improvements therein, and more particularly it constitutes an improvement on the invention disclosed in our co-pending application Serial No. 467,056, filed November 26, 1942, now Patent No. 2,393,421, dated January 22, 1946.

Sperm oil and spermaceti are products of the sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus). The sperm oil is the total oily liquid obtainable from the different parts of the body of the sperm whale, i. e., from the head, blubber, meat, etc., while spermaceti is the purified solid wax-like substance extracted from the soft cavities of the head. The sperm oil and spermaceti contain a large content of unsaponifiable constituents consisting of saturated and unsaturated fatty alcohols and esters having from seven to twenty-two carbon atoms.

In our aforementioned patent there is set forth a batch method of converting sperm oil into soap in a single operation without withdrawing the fatty alcohols present in the sperm oil from the reaction chamber. In carrying out said process, a batch consisting of sperm oil and the necessary quantity of anhydrous alkali to completely react with the sperm oil are heated in an autoclave provided with an agitator to between 2'70-280 C.

and the heating continued until all the fatty acids 3 are saponified and the fatty alcohols are transformed into soap. When this is accomplished the resulting soap is removed from the autoclave and the process repeated with a new batch of sperm oil and alkali. v

In carrying out the process outlined above we observed that the reaction took place in two successive stages, the first of which is an exothermic reaction whereby the fatty acids are saponified, and the second of which is an endothermic reaction whereby the fatty alcohols are transformed into soap. Our further researches disclosed that the heat set free in the exothermic reaction was greater than the heat absorbed in the endothermic reaction and this fact'led us to the conclusion that advantage may be taken of the heat set free in the first stage to effect the second stage, and that by so doing we could carry out the process in a continuous manner.

Accordingly, the object of the present invention is to carry out the manufacture of soap from sperm oil and spermaceti in a continuous manner and thereby realize the following advantages (1) reduce fuel consumption materially; (2) obtain greater production within a limited manufacturing space; (3) considerably increase the production without the necessity or expense of duplicating equipment used in the batch process.

In carrying out our invention the sperm oil is pre-heated to approximately 175 C. and the alkali melted at between 320-350 C. The preheated sperm oil and the melted alkali are charged in measured stoichiometric quantities (i. e., the quantity of alkali being that necessary to saponify the fatty acids and to completely transform the fatty alcohols into soap) to a chamber wherein, by the ensuing reactions which take place almost simultaneously, a neutral soap is produced and hydrogen is liberated.

In the accompanying drawings we have illustrated an apparatus, partly in section and partly in elevation, which has proved satisfactory in carrying out our invention, although it is to be understood that other forms of apparatus may serve equally well.

In the drawings, the reference numeral H3 represents a, reaction chamber which is provided with stirrers or paddles ll carried by a shaft l2 mounted in bearings l3 and M within the chamher, the shaft being rotatable by an electric motor l5 or other suitable power source. The chamber i0 is provided with a cover l5 through which extend feed pipes I? and l8, through which preheated sperm oil and molten alkali, respectively, may be simultaneously charged into the chamber. Fitted in and extending through the cover is a pipe or tube l9 having at the inner end thereof a relief valve 20 which may be set to unseat at a predetermined superatmospheric pressure within the chamber. The pipe l9 leads to a hydrogen collector or reservoir (not shown) and also has a branch pipe 2| provided with a control Valve 22 leading into the top of a soap discharge control chamber 23. The chamber 23 has a lower tubular extension 24 which, adjacent its lower end, is provided with a control valve 25, and extending upwardly through said tubular extension and laterally out of the chamber 23 is a siphon tube 26 which, adjacent its outer end, is provided with a control valve 27. The chamber ID is connected with the chamber 23 by a pipe 28, an open end of which is located in the chamber 23. is directed upwardly and is fiared outwardly, as indicated at 29. The tube 28 between the chambers I0 and 23 is provided with a depending connecting pipe 32 provided with a control valve 3|. For controlling the pressure of the hydrogen which finds its way into the chamber 23, said chamber may be provided with a relief valve 32.

In carrying out the soap making process, the

air is preferably first exhausted from the chamber l0, after which sperm oil pre-heated to about 175 C. and molten alkali, preferably sodium hydroxide, are then simultaneously charged in stoichiometric proportions into the chamber through pipes I1 and I8, respectively, from suitable reservoirs (not shown) until the reactants in chamber I reach a predetermined depth or level 33, the paddles l I, of course, being in operation. As aforementioned, the first stage of the reaction between the sperm oil and the alkali takes place practically instantaneously, in which the fatty acids are saponified and heat is liberated. The second stage of the reaction follows immediately, but since the liberated heat of the first stage of the reaction will be insufficient to heat the chamber to desired temperature and also supply sufficient heat to carry the endothermic reaction to completion, a, slight amount of additional heat must be initially supplied to the chamber to effect the completion of the second stage of the reaction in which the fatty alcohols are transformed into soap. As soon as this second phase of the reaction is completed and the chamber has reached the desired temperature, the need for additional external heat no longer exists since the heat set free by the exothermic reaction of the subsequently added reactants is sufficient to keep the process in operation. Such additional quantities of pre-heated sperm oil and molten alkali in stoichiometric proportions are thereupon charged into the chamber and as the volume of the resulting soap increases and reaches the depth or level 33 in the chamber ID, the soap begins to be discharged through the mouth of the tube 29 in the chamber 23 and presently fills the tubular extension 24 and the siphon tube 26 therein from which it is discharged through the valve 21 which is left open from the moment the melted soap begins to flow therefrom. The discharge of melted soap through the valve 21 is in direct relation to the supply of sperm oil and alkali to the chamber I0, which supply may be thereafter either continuously or intermittently charged into the chamber I0.

During the operation of the process it is desirable to maintain a slight superatmospheric pressure of generated hydrogen in the chamber ill, the excess passing out of the chamber through the relief valve to the hydrogen collector. It is also desirable in order to maintain the flow of melted soap through the system that the pressure within the chambers l0 and 23 be equal, hence the provision of the relief valve 22 in the chamber 23. It will be apparent from the constructional details of the apparatus that during the manufacturing process the soap within the chamber ID will be maintained at the level 33, but it will be understood that this height may be varied by regulating the height of the overflow outlet 29 and thereby control the length of time during which the soap may remain in the reaction chamber.

When it becomes desirable or necessary to interrupt the process for any reason whatsoever, the soap within the chamber Ill and a connecting pipe 28 may be withdrawn by opening the valve 3| and the accumulated soap in chamber 23 and 4 in siphon tube 26 may be withdrawn by opening valve 25.

Of course we realize that heat must be supplied for pre-heating the sperm oil and for melting the alkali and we have determined by tests that the total consumption of fuel per ton of soap produced by the present process is approximately one-half that required to manufacture the same quantity of soap by the batch process.

While we have shown and described one form of apparatus for carrying out the process of the present invention, it is to be understood that the process is not dependent upon the specific apparatus disclosed since changes therein may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

The term sperm oil is used in the specification and claims in a generic sense and is intended to cover sperm oil in the refined, unrefined and hydrogenated state, and also spermaceti.

What we claim is:

1. A continuous method of making soap from sperm oil having a high fatty alcohol content, which consists in reacting predetermined quantities of preheated sperm oil and melted anhydrous alkali in the measured stoichiometric proportions for the alkali to saponify the fatty acids and to completely transform the fatty alcohols of said sperm oil into soap, in a reaction chamber, initially supplying heat to cause transformation of the fatty alcohols of the sperm oil into soap, thereafter charging to the chamber additional quantities of preheated sperm oil and melted anhydrous alkali in the same stoichiometric proportions aforementioned, discontinuing the supply of heat to the chamber, and thereafter relying wholly upon the heat set free by the exothermic soap producing reaction between the fatty acids and the additionally charged sperm oil and alkali to furnish the necessary heat required by the endothermic reaction of the fatty alcohols of the additionally charged sperm oil and the alkali to completely transform said fatty alcohols into soap.

2. The method according to claim 1 wherein the air is initially evacuated from the chamber and after hydrogen liberated by the reaction has reached sufficient superatmospheric pressure, continuing the reaction in the presence of a superatmospheric pressure of liberated hydrogen.

3. The method according to claim 1 wherein the sperm oil is preheated to approximately C.

GERMAN SCHMIDT. CARLOS EDWARDS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,831,610 Schuck Nov. 10, 1931 2,027,936 Schrauth Jan. 14, 1936 2,271,406 Thurman Jan. 27, 1942 2,362,734 Ward Nov. 14, 1944 2,393,421 Schmidt et a1 Jan. 22, 1946 

